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(Nb Model.) 4 sheets-sheen 1. N. H. BORGFELDT. APPARATUS POR-AERIALNAVIGATION. N0. 530,219.

Patented Deo. 4, 1894.

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APPARATUS FOR AERIAL NAVIGATION.' No. 530,219. Patented Dec. 4, 1894.

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N.H.B0RGFBLDTA. APPARATUS PUR AERIAL NAVIGATION.

No. 530,219. Patented Deo. 4, 1894.

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

N. H. -B.ORGPELDT. APPARATUS PoR AERIAL NAVIGATION.

No. 530,219. I A Patented Des. 4, 1894.

WITNESSES- 1- D y l INVENTR 'fig-4 ATTORNEYJ' UNITED STATES f PATENTOEEICE.

NICHOLAS H. BORGFELDT, OF BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOR OF 'ONE-SIXTH TO CHARLESFRIEDRICH ZENKER, OF NEW YORK, Y.

APPARATUS FOR AAERIAL NAVIGATION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 530,219, dated December4,1894. Application filed January 27, 1894. Serial No. 498,168. (Nomodel.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NICHOLAS H. BORG- EELDT, a resident of Brooklyn,Kings county, State of NewYork, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Apparatus for Aerial Navigation, of which the followingis a specification.

Myinvention relates to apparatus for aerial navigation, and has foritsobject to provide an apparatus which will navigate the air without theemployment of balloons or other equivalent means for securingbuoyancythat is to say, an apparatus which is capable of being sustainedand propelled inthe air by the effort of the operator, advantage beingtaken of the dynamic lforce of the winds to assist such operation, aswill more fully hereinafter appear. l

To this end my invention consists in the construction hereinafter setforth, shown in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointedout in the claims, together with such structures as may be justlyconsidered equivalent structures in view of the prior state of the art.

In principle, my invention is based upon the principles governing theflight of birds as at present understood, and presents for its chiefadvantage the fact that the vwings or sails hereinafter described areeffective to move the apparatus both on the upward and on the downwardstroke of ,the driving mechanism, having therefore a duplex or double iaction instead of being effective only during half the time, as atpresent practiced.

In the drawings, forming part hereof-Figure 1 is a perspective view,partly broken away, showing one form of my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 areend views showing the wings in dierent positions. Fig. 4 isa plan viewof the frame or skeleton of the Wings. Figs. 5 and 6 are fragmentaryviews of parts of the'wings, showing details thereof, as will be fullyexplained hereinafter. Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line 7-7 of Fig. 4showing the method of pivoting the wing-rods to the center shaft. Fig. Sis a detail planview of a section of the end of a wing showing, a

' method of attaching the fabric of the 7wing covering to the skeleton.Fig. 9 is a side view of the apparatus resting on the ground. Fig.

10 is a detail perspectiveV view of the under side of the center of thewings; and Fig. 11 shows a m'odiiied form of wing-rod. Fig. 12

is a modification of the supporting-framing.

In the drawings, A is a platform to which may be pivoted, or otherwisesuitably secured, suspending rods a a, the pivots being indicated at bb. These rods may be cross braced in any suitable manner, as by braces cc. This platform and its system of suspend'- ing rods may be variouslyconstructed. For instance, the platform A may be a narrow board to whicha single pair of suspending rods i3 connected, the whole beingsuspendedby two or more rods connected to each one of the pair of suspendingrods, as shown in Fig. 12.

The platform A forms a support for the `operator of the machine, and hasmounted lthereon guide-rods d d on which work the tubes Z Z, formi-ngthe connection for operating'the wings. `These wings are secured to.rock shafts D D and consist of outer sections B B and inner sections CC lying on either side of the rock shaft D, and to these rock `shafts Dthe rods a a are pivoted so that the platform and its suspending rodsare supported from the rock shafts D D.

Referring particularly to Fig. 4, l have .shown in plan the skeleton forthe wings as made up wing-rods e c extending from a center shaftiEfastened securely to the rock shaftsD D, (as shown more clearly in Fig.8,) and having their ends bent backward at c. Connecting rods c2Vpivotally secured to the center shaft E serve to connect the centershaft and the rock shafts D D.

I desire it particularly to be understood that both the wing-rods andthe connecting rods may be secured to the center shaft by pivoting orotherwise in any manner that will allow the wings to have free motion onsaid center shaft, but I prefer to pivot them by hingeloops, as shown inFig. 7. To forni an additional brace for the inner structure, I attachlongitudinally extending stiffening rods F on the inner section C of thewings,and'to these stiffening rods l connect the tubes l Z which formthe connection for operating the wings from the platform.

The ent-ire structure is trussed or braced .ICO

Cords f extend from the extremities c of the wing-rod e to the rockshaft D. Similar cords gextend from the center shaft E to the rockshafts D D and preferably extend parallel to the wing-rods andtheconnecting rods, as shown. To the skeleton thus formed is securedsuitable fabric, such as a textile fabric, so as to cover the same.

The method of covering the wing is specifically illustrated' in Fig. 8wherein it will be seen that a separate covering is applied to the frameformed by the outer end of. the wing-rod e and the cord f, and the frameformed by the inner end of the wing-rod e, and the cord g. Theseseparate coverings overlap each other slightly, as shown in Fig. 5, therods of one section or frame overlapping the cord of the other sectionor frame, so that when the wing is moving in one direction it will serveto retain the air on account of the flexible cord of one section bearingagainst the overlapping rod of an adjacent section, (Fig. 5) that is tosay, when the wing is swung, it will retain the air upon the downwardmovement of the win g section, and upon the upward movement will allowthe air to pass freely through on account of the flexibility of thecords f and g, there being no stiff overlapping rod for the cord to bearagainst when the wing section is receiving an upward movement. (See Fig.G.)

The detailed operation of my apparatus is as follows: I will suppose theapparatus to be resting on its base on the ground or other supportfacing in the direction from which the wind is blowing, and the wings tolie in the position shown in Fig. l. The operator stands upon the base,and grasping the tubes Z Z, gives them a reciprocating up and downmotion between the limits substantially as shown in the two extremepositions in Figs. l and 3. This will have the effect of rocking thewings upon the shafts D D as axes. The sections B and C of each wing areso proportioned as to produce about an equal effect, and it will beobserved that upon the down stroke of the tubes the inner sections Cwill be brought down and the outer sections B will be raised. Thus, uponthe down stroke the sections C will serve to confine the air in themanner of a wing, while the air is allowed to pass freely through theascending outer sections B. Upon the up stroke of the tubes the innersections C will be raised, allowing the air to pass freely therethrough,and the outer sections B will be brought down confining the air. If thisreciprocating motion of the tubes be rapid enough, the rapid beating ofthe air being in all respects analogous to the flapping of a birdswings, the apparatus will rise in the air with more or less rapidity,the dynamic force of the wind and the force produced by iiapping the wings,

forming a couple, the resultant of which will be the line of directionof the ascent of the apparatus.

When the apparatus has attained the desired elevation, the wings neednot be flapped so vigorously as was necessary when setting the apparatusin motion, but a quick motion of the tubes of short amplitude assistedby the force of the wind blowing, will be sufficient to produce motionthrough the air, the flexible bent ends of the sections B serving topropel the apparatus forward.

It will be found that in order to get the most efficient results,advantage must be taken of any wind which may be blowing, but theapparatus may be used for slowly descending when there is no windblowing.

Then it is desired to descend, the wings may be held still, forinstance, in the position shown in Fig. 2, and the dynamic force ofthewind together with the weight of the operator and apparatus will form acouple, the resultant of which will be the line of direction of thedescent. When the apparatus is in motion through the air, slight changesof `direction may be imparted to it by the operator by swinging the rodsa upon their pivots ZJ, the guide-rods cZ being sufficiently flexiblerto allow of such movement, when the wings Lwill actwith greater forceon one side of the center of gravity than on the other, and theapparatus will be given a ,tendency to turn. The operator may also causethe apparatus to descend, by shifting the center of gravity forward; forinstance, by stepping forward on the base or platform, thereby incliningthe front of the platform and wings downward, and descending on aninclined plane.

When the apparatus is in rapid motion and it is desired to ascend, theoperator may fa cilitate the action by shifting the center of gravity toincline the platform and wings backward, and tilt the front upward.

When the changes of direction have been accomplished, the operatorrestores the parts to their normal position and continues' his course ina straight line.

It may sometimes be found desirable, if a strong wind is blowing, toprovide a base or bearing of large area for the apparatus in order thatthe apparatus may stand firmly on the ground, and an effective start maybe made. For this purpose I may provide extensions b b', as shown inFigs. l and 9. I may also findv it desirable to cover the gap betweenthe center shaft and the ends of the wing sections C C with a strip offabric t', as shown in Fig. lO. This strip may have its edgesj free,inorder that the air may be free to circulate during the upward stroke ofthe center shaft and be confined during the downward stroke.

In Fig. 12 I have shown the wing-rods as curved or bent, in order tomore effectively confine the air, and in Fig. 3 I have shown IOC 'seemssteps or handles Z Z near the base for moving the tubes. These tubes mayalso be operated by using one or both feet and throwing the Weight ofthe body upon the tubes. These lin no wise limit myself to the'construction and arrangementherein shown, as the device may be greatlyvaried Without departing from the spirit of my invention, the mainfeature of which is to provide an apparatus to utilize the double actingwing principle above set forth, together with such details ofconstruction as maybe necessary to the eflicient operation of theapparatus. Y

What Ivclaim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is v 1. In anaerial apparatus, the combination of wings, each having an outer and aninner section, the inner sections of the Wings being pivotally connectedto each other and each wing being pivoted intermediate of its sections,together with mechanism for swinging the wings on their pivots, allarranged so that amovement of the operating mechanism will swing thesections of each wing in opposite directions as set forth.

2. In an aerial apparatus, the combination with a center shaft, ofWing-rods pivoted thereto by one end and connected to rock shaftsintermediate of the end of the rods, each of said wingrods havingcombined therewith a section of fabric, all arranged in such a mannerthat each wing-rod overlaps the section of fabric attached to the nextadjacent wing-rod, as set forth.

3. In an aerial apparatus, the combination of wings, each having anouter and inner section, each Wing being pivoted intermediate of itssections, together with a center shaft to which the inner section ofeach wing is pivoted, as set forth.

4. The combination with a base A of wings provided with stiffening rodsF F, of sliding tubes Z Z fastened to the stiffening rods F F togetherwith guide-rods d CZ co-operating with the tubes and mounted onrthebase, substantially as described.

5. The combination with pivoted wings of a base A, suspending rods aattached thereto, said rods being also attached to the wing pivots,substantially as described.

6. The combination with a base A and suspending rods a a pivotallyattached thereto and mechanism for operating wings, of wings carried bysaid rods and said wing operating mechanism, as specified.

7. In an aerial apparatus, a pair of double .acting wings pivotedintermediate of their ends and to a center shaft and arranged to confinethe air upon the down stroke and to allow free circulation upon the upstroke, in combination with operating mechanism by the wings connectedto the Wings by pivotal connections as set forth.

NICHOLAS H. BORGFELDT.

Witnesses:

JAMES C. SUYDAM, GEO. E. MORSE.

